How was the city settled? Think back to when the city was first created and named.
According to Sanderson (2013), native people such as the Canarsees and Lenape were the first occupant of the city and Europeans started exploring the city in 1500’s. It was first named “Nieuw Nederland" by the Dutch who settled in the city but was later renamed “New York” in honor of the Duke of York after the end of the Anglo-Dutch war. More Europeans continued to settle in the area with New York becoming a center of attraction due to the presence of the port. Over the years, people from a diverse background in the world have been settling in the areas and the city currently has over 8 million people.
What was happening in the city in the 1950's and 1960's?
One of the major events in 1950's and 1960's was the rise of civil right movements. According to Faragher (2011), most of the Americans were fighting against the social inequality and injustice that was taking place in the country. The biggest in New York being the fight by Black Americans against racial segregation and it resulted in the landmark rulings such as Brown vs. Board of education case.
During this period, there was economic stability in New York as the second world war was over and more people invested in different ventures. Though, there was a cold war taking place between the Soviet Union and the United States. Fear and tension from the people made the state government of New York and the federal government to create domestic policies that would prevent the communists from destroying the American society.
What city, state, and federal legislation was used to establish public housing in the city.
Being one of the biggest metropolia in the United States, New York was condensed and that magnified the social inequality that existed. The unique challenges of New York population density inspired the state and the federal government to work together to remedy the situation. The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) was used to establish cheap public housing for the people in the city (Plunz, 2016). With the concept of public housing still being a new in the city and country, the aim was to ensure affordable housing for the people and eliminate some of the slums that were cropping up. Mitchell-Lama was one of the programs established in the city and public houses and amenities were constructed in the city.
What services, if any, were available in the area between the 1950's and 2000's (focus on education, job training, health).
One of the services that were available in New York City between 1950's and 2000's is health. According to Kaushal (2014), New York health system has been characterized and shaped by a concentration on medical centers specializing in education, research and clinical development. With the city having more than 8 million people, that has translated to more health characteristics for the people. Since the 1950’s, various health commissions have been formed including the New York City Department of health and Health Hygiene and New York City Clinical Data Research Network. Funding from the state government and private institutions has allowed the medical centers to provide healthcare to the diverse populations that have been living in the city.
Another service that was available between 1950's and 2000's education. New York City has one of the biggest public and private educational institutions in the United States. The public school in New York is the largest in the world and has one of the most segregated public system in the U.S (Fryer, 2013). Since 1950, the education system has been facing challenges with one being the high number of students enrolling and the second being racial segregation in the education system. With a high concentration of Latino and black students, the New York state government and community have constructed neighborhood schools to meet the demand for education in the city.
What attempts have been made to create more job opportunities in the city?
One of the attempts has been supporting the private sector. The New York state government has been supporting efforts made by the private sector and that has helped over the years to create more employment opportunities for the people. According to Clark (2016), as of 2016, the state government has recorded the highest number of private sector jobs and the unemployment rate in New York has gone down to 4.7%.
Another attempt has been the creation of the regular unemployment benefit. The Department of Labor in New York State introduced the unemployment insurance benefit to support some of the unemployed people in the state (New York State, 2018). Through the resources they receive, people can invest in a different venture and thus end up creating employment opportunities for themselves and other people.
What sections of the population are attracted by these job opportunities?
The younger populations are the ones attracted to job opportunities in New York City. The rise in suburbanization in the metro-wide area of New York has attracted a high percentage of young people seeking for job opportunities in the state (Roberts, 2014). That is due to the fact that education in the state has become more accessible and with the increase in the number of people settling in the state, more employment opportunities continue to come up.
What is the rate of unemployment, high school graduation, college attendance of residents (do not include people who move into the city for school, jobs, etc., but think of the people who are born and raised in the city)?
The rate of unemployment in New York City is 4.7% according to New York State Department of labor (2018). The number has been reducing since the recession and more employment opportunities are coming up in the state.
The rate of graduation in New York City is 80.2% (Breidenbach, 2018). That was a rise since the graduation rate in 2016 was 79.7%.
The rate of college attendance in New York City is 68.9% (NCHEMS Information Center, 2018).
Recommendation on how neglected areas of the city can improve.
One of the recommendations is the construction of more housing units in the neglected areas. The population of New York City is set to continue to increase and creating more housing units in these areas will attract more people and investors to the areas. That would also help in suburbanization of the areas and decongest most of the urban areas in New York.
The second recommendation is creating inclusive education in the neglected areas. Improving the state of education in the neglected areas will ensure more people will attend schools in those areas and thus end up improving the high school graduation rate and college attendance. When people in the neglected areas are able to acquire more knowledge, they are going to use it to develop their societies and create more employment opportunities for the people.
Another recommendation is investing in more infrastructures in the neglected areas. The infrastructure would include road and train network, hospitals, recreational amenities and research facilities. The strategy would attract more people to move out of congested areas to the neglected areas and thus lead to development. It would also open up the areas making them more accessible and investable.
References
Breidenbach Michelle. (2018). NY public high school graduation rates 2017: Look up, compare
districts across the state. Newyorkupstate. Retrieved from: http://www.newyorkupstate.com/schools/2018/02/ny_public_school_graduation_rates_2017_look_up_compare_districts_across_the_stat.html
Clark Dan. (2016). New York has more private sector jobs than ever before. Politifact. Retrieved
from: http://www.politifact.com/new-york/statements/2016/jul/22/andrew-cuomo/new-york-has-more-private-sector-jobs-ever/
Faragher, J. M. (2011). Out of Many: A History of the American People, AP Edition (p. 231).
New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Fryer, R. G. (2013). Teacher incentives and student achievement: Evidence from New York City
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Kaushal, R., Hripcsak, G., Ascheim, D. D., Bloom, T., Campion Jr, T. R., Caplan, A. L., ... "
Hart, R. (2014). Changing the research landscape: The New York City clinical data research network. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 21(4), 587-590.
NCHEMS Information Center. (2018). College-Going Rates of High School Graduates - Directly
from High School. Retrieved from: http://www.higheredinfo.org/dbrowser/?year=2010"level=nation"mode=data"state=0"submeasure=63
New York State. (2018). State Economy Added 6,700 Jobs in April 2018, Reaches New, All-
time High Private Sector Employment Count. Retrieved from: https://labor.ny.gov/stats/pressreleases/pruistat.shtm
Plunz, R. (2016). A history of housing in New York City. Columbia University Press.
Roberts Sam. (2014). Population Growth in New York City Is Reversing Decades-Old Trend,
Estimates Show. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/nyregion/population-growth-in-new-york-city-is-reversing-decades-old-trend-estimates-show.html
Sanderson, E. W. (2013). Mannahatta: a natural history of New York City. Abrams.
